System and method for edge ring wear compensation

ABSTRACT

A controller for adjusting a height of an edge ring in a substrate processing system includes an edge ring wear calculation module configured to receive at least one input indicative of one or more erosion rates of the edge ring, calculate at least one erosion rate of the edge ring based on the at least one input, and calculate an amount of erosion of the edge ring based on the at least one erosion rate. An actuator control module is configured to adjust the height of the edge ring based on the amount of erosion as calculated by the edge ring wear calculation module.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/594,861, filed on Dec. 5, 2017. The entire disclosure of theapplication referenced above is incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to substrate processing, and moreparticularly to systems and methods for compensating for wear of atunable edge ring in a substrate processing system.

BACKGROUND

The background description provided here is for the purpose of generallypresenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently namedinventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, aswell as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify asprior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedlyadmitted as prior art against the present disclosure.

Substrate processing systems may be used to treat substrates such assemiconductor wafers. Example processes that may be performed on asubstrate include, but are not limited to, chemical vapor deposition(CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), conductor etch, and/or other etch,deposition, or cleaning processes. A substrate may be arranged on asubstrate support, such as a pedestal, an electrostatic chuck (ESC),etc. in a processing chamber of the substrate processing system. Duringetching, gas mixtures may be introduced into the processing chamber andplasma may be used to initiate chemical reactions.

The substrate support may include a ceramic layer arranged to support asubstrate. For example, the wafer may be clamped to the ceramic layerduring processing. The substrate support may include an edge ringarranged around an outer portion (e.g., outside of and/or adjacent to aperimeter) of the substrate support. The edge ring may be provided toconfine plasma to a volume above the substrate, protect the substratesupport from erosion caused by the plasma, etc.

SUMMARY

A controller for adjusting a height of an edge ring in a substrateprocessing system includes an edge ring wear calculation moduleconfigured to receive at least one input indicative of one or moreerosion rates of the edge ring, calculate at least one erosion rate ofthe edge ring based on the at least one input, and calculate an amountof erosion of the edge ring based on the at least one erosion rate. Anactuator control module is configured to adjust the height of the edgering based on the amount of erosion as calculated by the edge ring wearcalculation module.

In other features, the at least one input includes an erosion rate asinput by a user. The at least one input includes a plurality of erosionrates for respective usage periods of the substrate processing system.The at least one input includes information indicating a type andduration of processing performed in the substrate processing system. Theat least one input includes calibration data indicating at least one ofthe height, a thickness, and a position of the edge ring.

In other features, to calculate the at least one erosion rate, the edgering wear calculation module is configured to calculate a plurality oferosion rates in respective usage periods of the substrate processingsystem. To calculate the amount of erosion of the edge ring, the edgering wear calculation module is configured to calculate the amount oferosion based on the plurality of erosion rates as calculated in therespective usage periods. Each of the plurality of erosion rates isdifferent for the respective usage periods. The edge ring wearcalculation module is configured to calculate the plurality of erosionrates using a lookup table that indexes erosion rates to usage periods.The edge ring wear calculation module is configured to calculate theplurality of erosion rates using a model.

In other features, a system includes the controller and further includesuser interface configured to receive the at least one input. The userinterface is configured to receive, as the at least one input, aplurality of erosion rates. The user interface includes a displayconfigured to display the amount of erosion as calculated by the edgering wear calculation module.

A method for adjusting a height of an edge ring in a substrateprocessing system includes receiving at least one input indicative ofone or more erosion rates of the edge ring, calculating at least oneerosion rate of the edge ring based on the at least one input,calculating an amount of erosion of the edge ring based on the at leastone erosion rate, and adjusting the height of the edge ring based on thecalculated amount of erosion.

In other features, the at least one input includes at least one of anerosion rate as input by a user, a plurality of erosion rates forrespective usage periods of the substrate processing system, informationindicating a type and duration of processing performed in the substrateprocessing system, and calibration data indicating at least one of theheight, a thickness, and a position of the edge ring.

In other features, calculating the at least one erosion rate includescalculating a plurality of erosion rates in respective usage periods ofthe substrate processing system. Calculating the amount of erosion ofthe edge ring includes calculating the amount of erosion based on theplurality of erosion rates as calculated in the respective usageperiods. Each of the plurality of erosion rates is different for therespective usage periods. The method further includes calculating theplurality of erosion rates using at least one of a lookup table thatindexes erosion rates to usage periods and a model. The method furtherincludes receiving the at least one input via a user interface.

Further areas of applicability of the present disclosure will becomeapparent from the detailed description, the claims and the drawings. Thedetailed description and specific examples are intended for purposes ofillustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of thedisclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will become more fully understood from thedetailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an example processing chamberaccording to the present disclosure;

FIG. 2A shows an example movable edge ring in a lowered positionaccording to the present disclosure;

FIG. 2B shows an example movable edge ring in a raised positionaccording to the present disclosure;

FIG. 3A shows an example controller according to the present disclosure;

FIG. 3B shows an example method of determining an amount of wear of anedge ring according to the present disclosure;

FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C show example erosion rates and erosion calculationaccording to the present disclosure; and

FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C, and 5D show an example user interface for inputtingerosion rates according to the present disclosure.

In the drawings, reference numbers may be reused to identify similarand/or identical elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A substrate support in a substrate processing system may include an edgering. An upper surface of the edge ring may extend above an uppersurface of the substrate support, causing the upper surface of thesubstrate support (and, in some examples, an upper surface of asubstrate arranged on the substrate support) to be recessed relative tothe edge ring. This recess may be referred to as a pocket. A distancebetween the upper surface of the edge ring and the upper surface of thesubstrate may be referred to as a “pocket depth” or “pocket height.”Generally, the pocket depth is fixed according to a height of the edgering relative to the upper surface of the substrate.

Some aspects of etch processing may vary due to characteristics of thesubstrate processing system, the substrate, gas mixtures, etc. Forexample, flow patterns, and therefore an etch rate and etch uniformity,may vary according to the pocket depth of the edge ring, edge ringgeometry (i.e., shape), etc. In some example processes, overall etchrates vary as the distance between the upper surface of the substrateand the bottom surface of the gas distribution device increases.Further, the etch rates may vary from the center of the substrate to anouter perimeter of the substrate. For example, at an outer perimeter ofthe substrate, sheath bending and ion tilt can cause shallow trenchisolation (STI) tilt, and chemical loading associated with reactivespecies (e.g., etchants and/or deposition precursors) can cause hardmask critical dimension roll off. Varying the configuration of the edgering (e.g., including edge ring height and/or geometry) may modify thegas velocity profile across the surface of the substrate.

Portions of the edge ring may wear (i.e., erode) over time as a resultof exposure to plasma and other process materials during substrateprocessing. Accordingly, the edge ring may be raised to compensate foran estimated amount of wear experienced by the edge ring. For example,the edge ring may be coupled to an actuator configured to raise andlower the edge ring in response to a controller, user interface, etc. Insystems that do not include a mechanism for directly measuring theerosion of the edge ring (e.g., a sensor, camera, etc.), the erosion ofthe edge ring may be estimated.

Edge ring wear compensation systems and methods according to theprinciples of the present disclosure estimate the erosion of the edgering and adjust a height of the edge ring to compensate for the erosionaccordingly. For example, the edge ring may have one or more associatederosion rates. In some examples, the erosion rate may vary over time(e.g., in radio frequency (RF) hours), may vary based on processes beingperformed, etc. In other words, the erosion rate may not be linear dueto a variable sensitivity to erosion. Accordingly, the systems andmethods described herein estimate the erosion based on various operationparameters and adjust the height of the edge ring based on the estimatederosion. In one example, the erosion may be estimated by determiningdifferent erosion rates (e.g., in mm/hr, μm/hr, etc.) for respectiveperiods (RF hours, or RFh) to calculate an amount of erosion for eachperiod. The total erosion can then be calculated by combining thecalculated amount of erosion for each of the periods.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an example substrate processing system 100 isshown. For example only, the substrate processing system 100 may be usedfor performing etching using RF plasma and/or other suitable substrateprocessing. The substrate processing system 100 includes a processingchamber 102 that encloses other components of the substrate processingsystem 100 and contains the RF plasma. The substrate processing chamber102 includes an upper electrode 104 and a substrate support 106, such asan electrostatic chuck (ESC). During operation, a substrate 108 isarranged on the substrate support 106. While a specific substrateprocessing system 100 and chamber 102 are shown as an example, theprinciples of the present disclosure may be applied to other types ofsubstrate processing systems and chambers, such as a substrateprocessing system that generates plasma in-situ, that implements remoteplasma generation and delivery (e.g., using a plasma tube, a microwavetube), etc.

For example only, the upper electrode 104 may include a gas distributiondevice such as a showerhead 109 that introduces and distributes processgases. The showerhead 109 may include a stem portion including one endconnected to a top surface of the processing chamber. A base portion isgenerally cylindrical and extends radially outwardly from an oppositeend of the stem portion at a location that is spaced from the topsurface of the processing chamber. A substrate-facing surface orfaceplate of the base portion of the showerhead includes a plurality ofholes through which process gas or purge gas flows. Alternately, theupper electrode 104 may include a conducting plate and the process gasesmay be introduced in another manner.

The substrate support 106 includes a conductive baseplate 110 that actsas a lower electrode. The baseplate 110 supports a ceramic layer 112. Insome examples, the ceramic layer 112 may comprise a heating layer, suchas a ceramic multi-zone heating plate. A thermal resistance layer 114(e.g., a bond layer) may be arranged between the ceramic layer 112 andthe baseplate 110. The baseplate 110 may include one or more coolantchannels 116 for flowing coolant through the baseplate 110.

An RF generating system 120 generates and outputs an RF voltage to oneof the upper electrode 104 and the lower electrode (e.g., the baseplate110 of the substrate support 106). The other one of the upper electrode104 and the baseplate 110 may be DC grounded, AC grounded or floating.For example only, the RF generating system 120 may include an RF voltagegenerator 122 that generates the RF voltage that is fed by a matchingand distribution network 124 to the upper electrode 104 or the baseplate110. In other examples, the plasma may be generated inductively orremotely. Although, as shown for example purposes, the RF generatingsystem 120 corresponds to a capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) system,the principles of the present disclosure may also be implemented inother suitable systems, such as, for example only transformer coupledplasma (TCP) systems, CCP cathode systems, remote microwave plasmageneration and delivery systems, etc.

A gas delivery system 130 includes one or more gas sources 132-1, 132-2,. . . , and 132-N (collectively gas sources 132), where N is an integergreater than zero. The gas sources supply one or more etch gases,carrier gases, inert gases, etc., and mixtures thereof. The gas sourcesmay also supply purge gas. The gas sources 132 are connected by valves134-1, 134-2, . . . , and 134-N (collectively valves 134) and mass flowcontrollers 136-1, 136-2, . . . , and 136-N (collectively mass flowcontrollers 136) to a manifold 140. An output of the manifold 140 is fedto the processing chamber 102. For example only, the output of themanifold 140 is fed to the showerhead 109.

A temperature controller 142 may be connected to a plurality of heatingelements, such as thermal control elements (TCEs) 144 arranged in theceramic layer 112. For example, the heating elements 144 may include,but are not limited to, macro heating elements corresponding torespective zones in a multi-zone heating plate and/or an array of microheating elements disposed across multiple zones of a multi-zone heatingplate. The temperature controller 142 may be used to control theplurality of heating elements 144 to control a temperature of thesubstrate support 106 and the substrate 108.

The temperature controller 142 may communicate with a coolant assembly146 to control coolant flow through the channels 116. For example, thecoolant assembly 146 may include a coolant pump and reservoir. Thetemperature controller 142 operates the coolant assembly 146 toselectively flow the coolant through the channels 116 to cool thesubstrate support 106.

A valve 150 and pump 152 may be used to evacuate reactants from theprocessing chamber 102. A system controller 160 may be used to controlcomponents of the substrate processing system 100. A robot 170 may beused to deliver substrates onto, and remove substrates from, thesubstrate support 106. For example, the robot 170 may transfersubstrates between the substrate support 106 and a load lock 172.Although shown as separate controllers, the temperature controller 142may be implemented within the system controller 160. In some examples, aprotective seal 176 may be provided around a perimeter of the bond layer114 between the ceramic layer 112 and the baseplate 110.

The substrate support 106 includes an edge ring 180. The edge ring 180according to the principles of the present disclosure is moveable (e.g.,moveable upward and downward in a vertical direction) relative to thesubstrate 108. For example, the edge ring 180 may be controlled via anactuator responsive to the controller 176. In some examples, a user mayinput control parameters (e.g., erosion rates) to the controller 176 viaa user interface 184, which may include one or more input mechanisms, adisplay, etc.

Referring now to FIGS. 2A and 2B, a substrate support 200 having asubstrate 204 arranged thereon according to the principles of thepresent disclosure is shown. The substrate support 200 may include abase or pedestal having an inner portion (e.g., corresponding to an ESC)208 and an outer portion 212. In examples, the outer portion 212 may beindependent from, and moveable in relation to, the inner portion 208.The substrate 204 is arranged on the inner portion 208 for processing. Acontroller 216 (e.g., corresponding to the system controller 160)communicates with one or more actuators 220 to selectively raise andlower edge rings 224 to adjust a pocket depth of the support 200. Forexample only, the edge ring 224 is shown in a fully lowered position inFIG. 2A and in an example fully raised position in FIG. 2B. As shown,the actuators 220 correspond to pin actuators configured to selectivelyextend and retract pins 228 in a vertical direction. Other suitabletypes of actuators may be used in other examples. For example only, theedge ring 224 corresponds to a ceramic or quartz edge ring. In FIG. 2A,the controller 216 communicates with the actuators 220 to directly raiseand lower the edge ring 224 via the pins 228. In some examples, theinner portion 208 is moveable relative to the edge ring 224. The edgering 224 may have one or more associated erosion rates as describedbelow in more detail.

Referring now to FIG. 3A, an example controller 300 includes an edgering wear calculation module 304 configured to calculate an amount ofwear (e.g., in mm or μm) of an edge ring. For example, the edge ringwear calculation module 304 receives one or more inputs 308 including,but not limited to, calibration data indicating an initial edge ringthickness, height, position, etc. of the edge ring, process parameters(e.g., materials used, type of process, information indicating aduration of a process, such as start and end times, temperatures withinthe processing chamber, etc.), chamber characteristics, user definedvariables, user inputs, sensor measurements, etc. The user inputs mayinclude one or more erosion rates. The edge ring wear calculation module304 calculates the edge ring wear based on the received inputs 308. Forexample, the edge ring wear calculation module 304 may calculate theedge ring wear according to the erosion rates (e.g., as input by a uservia user interface 310, stored in memory 312, calculated based onvarious process parameters, and/or combinations thereof) in respectiveprocessing periods and durations of the respective processing periods(e.g., in RF hours). The data may include, but is not limited to, one ormore lookup tables indexing the erosion rates to usage periods, a modelto be executed by the edge ring wear calculation module 304, etc.

The edge ring wear calculation module 304 is further configured tocalculate an amount to adjust a height of the edge ring (i.e., edge ringadjustment data) based on the calculated wear and to provide the edgering adjustment data to an actuator control module 316. The actuatorcontrol module 316 outputs one or more control signals based on the edgering adjustment data to control respective actuators. For example, thecontrol signals may be provided to actuators such as the actuators 220described in FIGS. 2A and 2B.

Referring now to FIG. 3B, an example method 320 for calculating anamount of edge ring wear begins at 324. At 328, the method 320 (e.g.,the edge ring wear calculation module 304) initializes a height and/orthickness of an edge ring in a processing chamber. For example, the edgering wear calculation module 304 may determine an initial height of theedge ring based on a sensor measurement or physical measurement of thethickness of the edge ring during installation, maintenance, etc. At332, the method 320 initializes a timer or counter to monitor aduration, in RF hours, of processing performed in the chamber. At 336,substrate processing within the chamber begins and the timer is started.

At 340, the method 320 (e.g., the edge ring wear calculation module 304)calculates edge ring wear during a current usage period in accordancewith an associated erosion rate. At 344, the method 320 determineswhether processing is complete. If true, the method 320 continues to348. If false, the method 320 continues to 352. At 352, the method 320(e.g., the edge ring wear calculation module 304) determines whether toselect a different erosion rate. For example, the edge ring wearcalculation module 304 may select a different erosion rate upontransitioning to a different usage period (e.g., in response to thetimer exceeding one or more RF hour thresholds, such as 50 RF hours, 200RF hours, etc.). If true, the method 320 continues to 356. If false, themethod 320 continues to 340. At 356, the method 320 (e.g., the edge ringwear calculation module 304) selects a new erosion rate and continues to340.

At 348, the method 320 (e.g., the edge ring wear calculation module 304)calculates an overall (e.g., cumulative) amount of erosion of the edgering in accordance with the edge ring wear calculated in each usageperiod at 340. In some examples, a height of the edge ring is adjustedbased on the calculated amount of erosion at 350. For example, the edgering may be raised an amount equal to the amount of erosion, an amountequal to an amount of erosion that occurred since a last time the edgering was raised, etc. The method 320 ends at 360.

Referring now to FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C, example erosion rates and wearcompensation are shown. In FIG. 4A, an example erosion rate 400 (inμm/RFh) is shown over 1000 RF hours. For example, the erosion rate 400may be calculated by measuring respective amounts of erosion on one ormore edge rings (e.g., using sensors in a test chamber, physicalmeasurements, etc.) over time. As shown, the erosion rate 400 issubstantially non-linear. For example, the erosion rate 400 may sharplyincrease from 0.7 μm/RFh in a first usage period (e.g., from 0 to 250 RFhours of use) and vary between 1.1 and 1.3 μm/RFh in a second usageperiod (e.g., from 250 to 800 hours of use).

In FIG. 4B, an example erosion rate 404 (in mm/RFh) is shown over 6 RFhours. As shown, the erosion rate 404 may vary over even relativelysmall usage periods. For example, although the erosion rate 404 may besubstantially linear in a usage period from 0 to 3 or 3.5 RF hours, theerosion rate 404 may vary in each half-hour period over that same usageperiod (e.g., from 0.05 mm/RFh to 0.08/RFh).

Accordingly, the edge ring wear calculation module 304 determines anamount of wear of the edge ring based on different erosion rates forrespective usage periods. For example, the edge ring wear calculationmodule 304 may be configured to determine (and adjust, for wearcalculation) the erosion rate periodically (e.g., for each half hourusage period, hundred hour usage period, non-uniform predetermined usageperiods, etc.), using a model that adjusts one or more base erosionrates in accordance with process parameters, in response to user inputs,etc. Respective erosion rates may be calculated by the edge ring wearcalculation module 304, stored in the memory 312 to be retrieved by theedge ring wear calculation module 304, input by a user at the beginningof or during a process, etc.

In examples where the erosion rate is determined for uniform and/ornon-uniform predetermined usage periods, the usage periods may bedetermined based on previously observed/measured erosion rates as shownin FIGS. 4A and 4B. For example, a usage period having an associatederosion rate may correspond to a period having an erosion rate that doesnot vary by more than a predetermined variance amount (e.g., by morethan 0.1, 0.2 μm/RFh, etc.). In another example, usage periods may bedefined based on average erosion rates within adjacent usage periods.For example, if an average erosion rate within a sliding window of time(e.g., 50 RFh) differs by more than a predetermined amount (e.g., 0.1μm/RFh, 0.2 μm/RFh, etc.) from an average erosion rate within a previousposition of the sliding window (e.g., offset by 5 RFh, 10 RFh, etc.), ausage period having the associated erosion rate may be definedaccordingly.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4C, a first usage period 408 may beassociated with a first erosion rate of 0.8 μm/RFh (amounting to0.8*300, or 240 microns, over the first usage period 408). Conversely, asecond usage period 412 may be associated with a second erosion rate of1.0 μm/RFh (amounting to a sum of the erosion amount in the first usageperiod (240 microns) and an erosion amount of the second usage period412 (1.0*200, or 200 microns) for a cumulative erosion of 440 microns),a third usage period 416 may be associated with a third erosion rate of1.1 μm/RFh (amounting to a cumulative erosion of 770 microns for thefirst usage period 408, the second usage period 412, and the third usageperiod 416), and a fourth usage period 420 may be associated with afourth erosion rate of 0.9 μm/RFh (amounting to a cumulative erosion of950 microns for 1000 RFh). The associated erosion rates may correspondto average erosion rates during the respective usage periods.

In one example, transitions between adjacent usage periods and theirrespective erosion rates may be defined in accordance with a change inaverage erosion rates over a sliding window of 50 RF hours. For example,an average erosion rate in a sliding window having a duration of 50 RFhours as shown at 424 may be within 0.1 μm/RFh of the average erosionrate of 0.8 μm/RFh for the first usage period 408. Conversely, anaverage erosion rate in the sliding window as shown at 428 may have anaverage erosion rate of 1.0 μm/RFh. Accordingly, a transition from thefirst usage period 408 having the first erosion rate to the second usageperiod 412 having the second erosion rate may be defined at 300 RFhours.

In this manner, the different erosion rates in respective usage periodscorrespond to a compensation sequence that is applied to the control ofthe edge ring position over a lifetime of the edge ring. For example,the erosion rates and associated usage periods are stored in the memory312. In one example, the erosion rates are stored as a table indexingerosion rates to respective usage periods. One or both of the erosionrates and the usage periods may be input by a user.

The edge ring wear calculation module 304 is further configured tomonitor an overall usage (i.e., cumulative, in RF hours) of the edgering. For example, the edge ring wear calculation module 304 may includea timer or counter that monitors the usage and stores the overall usageof the edge ring accordingly. When calculating erosion, the edge ringwear calculation module 304 calculates the overall (i.e., cumulative)erosion according to overall usage and the different erosion rates inrespective usage periods. For example, if the overall usage is 150 RFhours, the erosion may correspond to 0.8 μm/RFh×150 RF hours.Conversely, if the overall usage is 400 RF hours, the erosion maycorrespond to 0.8 μm/RFh×300 RF hours+1.0 μm/RFh×100 RF hours.

Referring now to FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C, and 5D, an example user interface 500(e.g., corresponding to the user interface 184 of FIG. 1, the userinterface 310 of FIG. 3A, etc.) for inputting erosion rates is shown.For example, a user may disable erosion rate calculation at 504, selecta single (e.g., linear) erosion rate at 508 and enter the selectederosion rate at 512, or select multiple erosion rates (e.g., anon-linear multi-rate) at 516. If multiple erosion rates are selected,the user may input each erosion rate and a start time (in RF hours) ofan associated usage period at 520. A calculated erosion amount for eachusage period may be displayed at 524 (e.g., in real time). The user mayadd additional rows (i.e., usage periods, by start time, and associatederosion rates) and/or remove rows. The edge ring wear calculation module304 calculates the erosion based on the input erosion rate for eachperiod. For example, as shown, the edge ring wear calculation module 304calculates erosion for a usage period starting at 0 RF hours inaccordance with an erosion rate input at 520. An overall usage may beshown at 528. A calculated erosion amount may be shown at 532. In someexamples, overall usage and erosion amounts may be reset (i.e., to zero)at 536.

The interface 500 may display a base pocket height at 540. For example,the base pocket height may correspond to a pocket height of the edgering prior to any adjustment due to erosion. Conversely, a currentheight may be displayed at 544. The current height corresponds to thebase pocket height as reduced by the calculated erosion. As shown inFIG. 5B, the current height is the base pocket height of 2.560 mm minusthe calculated erosion of 0.290 mm. In other words, at a next adjustment(e.g., subsequent to a current processing step or recipe), the edge ringwear calculation module 304 may adjust the edge ring 0.290 mm upward tocompensate for the calculated erosion.

The interface 500 may also display a calibration wear (erosion) amountat 548. For example, the calibration wear amount may correspond to aphysically measured amount of erosion of the edge ring (e.g., asmeasured during installation, maintenance/cleaning, periodiccalibration, etc.), and may account for differences in edge ringthickness due to manufacturing tolerances, previous usage, etc. In otherwords, at 0 RF hours of usage, the thickness of the edge ring mayalready be less than some predetermined or expected value. Accordingly,an overall erosion amount 552 may correspond to a sum of the calibrationwear amount and the calculated erosion.

The interface 500 may include an edge ring life time alert as shown at556, which may be selectively enabled or disabled. For example, theinterface 500 may alert the user if the overall erosion amount 552exceeds a predetermined erosion threshold (e.g., as shown in FIG. 5C, anerosion amount 560 in mm, a percentage 564 of the edge ring eroded orremaining, a total RF hours 568, etc.). In some examples, the erosionthreshold may be at least partially based on a thickness of an outerdiameter of the edge ring. For example, an inner diameter of the edgering may wear at a greater rate than an outer diameter of the edge ring.Accordingly, if the edge ring is adjusted upward to compensate forerosion to the inner diameter of the edge ring, the outer diameter ofthe edge ring may be increasingly raised to a height that is greaterthan an original (i.e., installed or calibrated) height of the edgering. In some examples, the raised outer diameter of the edge ring mayinterfere with the operation of the substrate processing system. Forexample, the outer diameter of the edge ring may interfere with otherstructures above the edge ring, robots, etc. In this manner, the edgering wear calculation module 304 may be further configured to calculatethe erosion of the outer diameter of the edge ring and a height of theouter diameter of the edge ring based on an amount that the edge ringhas been raised to compensate for erosion, and to activate the ringlifetime alert accordingly.

In another example as shown in FIG. 5D, the interface 500 may allow theuser to select one of a plurality of multi-rates 572. For example, themulti-rates 572 may correspond to different predetermined and/orcustomized (i.e., user input or adjusted) multi-rates. Each of themulti-rates 572 may correspond to a different non-linear erosion rate, adifferent erosion rate model, etc. For example, the user may select adifferent one of the multi-rates 572 based on a current recipe,substrate type, and/or other process or system parameters. In thismanner, the erosion amount may be calculated in accordance with aplurality of different selected linear erosion rates and/or non-linearerosion multi-rates over a total usage period of the edge ring.

Accordingly, erosion compensation (e.g., an amount that the edge ring isadjusted to compensate for the calculated erosion) may be controlled inaccordance with a respective recipe. In other words, a first erosioncompensation amount may be calculated in accordance with a first erosionmulti-rate as selected for a first recipe and the edge ring may beadjusted accordingly. Conversely, a second erosion calculation amountmay be calculated in accordance with a second erosion multi-rate asselected for a second recipe. Accordingly, an amount that the edge ringis adjusted may vary based on a selected recipe and/or a specific one ofthe multi-rates selected for a recipe. Subsequent to the executed recipeand/or adjustment of the edge ring, the erosion rate may return to adefault erosion rate for the system or processing tool, prompt the userto input a new erosion rate, etc.

The foregoing description is merely illustrative in nature and is in noway intended to limit the disclosure, its application, or uses. Thebroad teachings of the disclosure can be implemented in a variety offorms. Therefore, while this disclosure includes particular examples,the true scope of the disclosure should not be so limited since othermodifications will become apparent upon a study of the drawings, thespecification, and the following claims. It should be understood thatone or more steps within a method may be executed in different order (orconcurrently) without altering the principles of the present disclosure.Further, although each of the embodiments is described above as havingcertain features, any one or more of those features described withrespect to any embodiment of the disclosure can be implemented in and/orcombined with features of any of the other embodiments, even if thatcombination is not explicitly described. In other words, the describedembodiments are not mutually exclusive, and permutations of one or moreembodiments with one another remain within the scope of this disclosure.

Spatial and functional relationships between elements (for example,between modules, circuit elements, semiconductor layers, etc.) aredescribed using various terms, including “connected,” “engaged,”“coupled,” “adjacent,” “next to,” “on top of,” “above,” “below,” and“disposed.” Unless explicitly described as being “direct,” when arelationship between first and second elements is described in the abovedisclosure, that relationship can be a direct relationship where noother intervening elements are present between the first and secondelements, but can also be an indirect relationship where one or moreintervening elements are present (either spatially or functionally)between the first and second elements. As used herein, the phrase atleast one of A, B, and C should be construed to mean a logical (A OR BOR C), using a non-exclusive logical OR, and should not be construed tomean “at least one of A, at least one of B, and at least one of C.”

In some implementations, a controller is part of a system, which may bepart of the above-described examples. Such systems can comprisesemiconductor processing equipment, including a processing tool ortools, chamber or chambers, a platform or platforms for processing,and/or specific processing components (a wafer pedestal, a gas flowsystem, etc.). These systems may be integrated with electronics forcontrolling their operation before, during, and after processing of asemiconductor wafer or substrate. The electronics may be referred to asthe “controller,” which may control various components or subparts ofthe system or systems. The controller, depending on the processingrequirements and/or the type of system, may be programmed to control anyof the processes disclosed herein, including the delivery of processinggases, temperature settings (e.g., heating and/or cooling), pressuresettings, vacuum settings, power settings, radio frequency (RF)generator settings, RF matching circuit settings, frequency settings,flow rate settings, fluid delivery settings, positional and operationsettings, wafer transfers into and out of a tool and other transfertools and/or load locks connected to or interfaced with a specificsystem.

Broadly speaking, the controller may be defined as electronics havingvarious integrated circuits, logic, memory, and/or software that receiveinstructions, issue instructions, control operation, enable cleaningoperations, enable endpoint measurements, and the like. The integratedcircuits may include chips in the form of firmware that store programinstructions, digital signal processors (DSPs), chips defined asapplication specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and/or one or moremicroprocessors, or microcontrollers that execute program instructions(e.g., software). Program instructions may be instructions communicatedto the controller in the form of various individual settings (or programfiles), defining operational parameters for carrying out a particularprocess on or for a semiconductor wafer or to a system. The operationalparameters may, in some embodiments, be part of a recipe defined byprocess engineers to accomplish one or more processing steps during thefabrication of one or more layers, materials, metals, oxides, silicon,silicon dioxide, surfaces, circuits, and/or dies of a wafer.

The controller, in some implementations, may be a part of or coupled toa computer that is integrated with the system, coupled to the system,otherwise networked to the system, or a combination thereof. Forexample, the controller may be in the “cloud” or all or a part of a fabhost computer system, which can allow for remote access of the waferprocessing. The computer may enable remote access to the system tomonitor current progress of fabrication operations, examine a history ofpast fabrication operations, examine trends or performance metrics froma plurality of fabrication operations, to change parameters of currentprocessing, to set processing steps to follow a current processing, orto start a new process. In some examples, a remote computer (e.g. aserver) can provide process recipes to a system over a network, whichmay include a local network or the Internet. The remote computer mayinclude a user interface that enables entry or programming of parametersand/or settings, which are then communicated to the system from theremote computer. In some examples, the controller receives instructionsin the form of data, which specify parameters for each of the processingsteps to be performed during one or more operations. It should beunderstood that the parameters may be specific to the type of process tobe performed and the type of tool that the controller is configured tointerface with or control. Thus as described above, the controller maybe distributed, such as by comprising one or more discrete controllersthat are networked together and working towards a common purpose, suchas the processes and controls described herein. An example of adistributed controller for such purposes would be one or more integratedcircuits on a chamber in communication with one or more integratedcircuits located remotely (such as at the platform level or as part of aremote computer) that combine to control a process on the chamber.

Without limitation, example systems may include a plasma etch chamber ormodule, a deposition chamber or module, a spin-rinse chamber or module,a metal plating chamber or module, a clean chamber or module, a beveledge etch chamber or module, a physical vapor deposition (PVD) chamberor module, a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) chamber or module, anatomic layer deposition (ALD) chamber or module, an atomic layer etch(ALE) chamber or module, an ion implantation chamber or module, a trackchamber or module, and any other semiconductor processing systems thatmay be associated or used in the fabrication and/or manufacturing ofsemiconductor wafers.

As noted above, depending on the process step or steps to be performedby the tool, the controller might communicate with one or more of othertool circuits or modules, other tool components, cluster tools, othertool interfaces, adjacent tools, neighboring tools, tools locatedthroughout a factory, a main computer, another controller, or tools usedin material transport that bring containers of wafers to and from toollocations and/or load ports in a semiconductor manufacturing factory.

What is claimed is:
 1. A controller for adjusting a height of an edgering in a substrate processing system, the controller comprising: anedge ring wear calculation module configured to receive at least oneinput indicative of one or more erosion rates of the edge ring,calculate at least one erosion rate of the edge ring based on the atleast one input, and calculate an amount of erosion of the edge ringbased on the at least one erosion rate; and an actuator control moduleconfigured to adjust the height of the edge ring based on the amount oferosion as calculated by the edge ring wear calculation module.
 2. Thecontroller of claim 1, wherein the at least one input includes anerosion rate as input by a user.
 3. The controller of claim 1, whereinthe at least one input includes a plurality of erosion rates forrespective usage periods of the substrate processing system.
 4. Thecontroller of claim 1, wherein the at least one input includesinformation indicating a type and duration of processing performed inthe substrate processing system.
 5. The controller of claim 1, whereinthe at least one input includes calibration data indicating at least oneof the height, a thickness, and a position of the edge ring.
 6. Thecontroller of claim 1, wherein, to calculate the at least one erosionrate, the edge ring wear calculation module is configured to calculate aplurality of erosion rates in respective usage periods of the substrateprocessing system.
 7. The controller of claim 6, wherein, to calculatethe amount of erosion of the edge ring, the edge ring wear calculationmodule is configured to calculate the amount of erosion based on theplurality of erosion rates as calculated in the respective usageperiods.
 8. The controller of claim 6, wherein each of the plurality oferosion rates is different for the respective usage periods.
 9. Thecontroller of claim 6, wherein the edge ring wear calculation module isconfigured to calculate the plurality of erosion rates using a lookuptable that indexes erosion rates to usage periods.
 10. The controller ofclaim 6, wherein the edge ring wear calculation module is configured tocalculate the plurality of erosion rates using a model.
 11. A systemcomprising the controller of claim 1 and further comprising a userinterface configured to receive the at least one input.
 12. The systemof claim 11, wherein the user interface is configured to receive, as theat least one input, a plurality of erosion rates.
 13. The system ofclaim 11, wherein the user interface includes a display configured todisplay the amount of erosion as calculated by the edge ring wearcalculation module.
 14. A method for adjusting a height of an edge ringin a substrate processing system, the method comprising: receiving atleast one input indicative of one or more erosion rates of the edgering; calculating at least one erosion rate of the edge ring based onthe at least one input; calculating an amount of erosion of the edgering based on the at least one erosion rate; and adjusting the height ofthe edge ring based on the calculated amount of erosion.
 15. The methodof claim 14, wherein the at least one input includes at least one of anerosion rate as input by a user, a plurality of erosion rates forrespective usage periods of the substrate processing system, informationindicating a type and duration of processing performed in the substrateprocessing system, and calibration data indicating at least one of theheight, a thickness, and a position of the edge ring.
 16. The method ofclaim 14, wherein calculating the at least one erosion rate includescalculating a plurality of erosion rates in respective usage periods ofthe substrate processing system.
 17. The method of claim 16, whereincalculating the amount of erosion of the edge ring includes calculatingthe amount of erosion based on the plurality of erosion rates ascalculated in the respective usage periods.
 18. The method of claim 16,wherein each of the plurality of erosion rates is different for therespective usage periods.
 19. The method of claim 16, further comprisingcalculating the plurality of erosion rates using at least one of alookup table that indexes erosion rates to usage periods and a model.20. The method of claim 14 further comprising receiving the at least oneinput via a user interface.